More User Reviews:

Poured into a imperial nonic a deep amber/bronze with a thinner but well defined off white head,aromas of deep caramel and vanilla,as it warmed I picked up the sweet booze more and more,I knew beforw tasting this it was gonna be big and sweet.Flavors of deep caramel,dark fruit,and vanilla really make for a sweet palate,it has a decent toasted oak element in the finish to keep the sweetness at bay just a little.The alcohol looms after mid bottle adding some heat to the sweetness,its coating and has a nice feel.A sipper thats for sure,it can get a bit cloying, but its nice to sip on, on a cold night.

Good looking pour with a rusty amber color, picking up a bit of brown or ruby red depending the light. A 1/4 inch head recedes to lace the sides of the glass with a foamy lce.

Smells outstanding, with notes of plum or fig, and a definite oaky booziness, reminds me of brandy or scotch.

Taste does not dissppoint. Starts with the warm booze flavor, tastes more like a dark rum or brandy, thn the scotch I smelled. Finishes with a malty creaminess that stays warm and slightly lces the mouth with a bittersweet dry finish.

Feels great and it probably has a lot more going on for it than I m qualified to describe.

Drinkabilty is good because it tastes amazing, but not great, because it is a bit strong and lingering. Overall a great product, as I have come to expect from Southern Tier.

Drinkability: I do like Cuvee 1 better but this one is also a malty delight. The taste grew on me. I find the oak taste more dominant in this one. The beer leaves a nice aftertaste of toffee. I will get this again.

The beer pours a hazy brown color with a white head. The aroma is alcohol, citrus and caramel malt. The flavor is a lot of caramel and chocolate malts. I also get some toffee and a little bit of smoke. The beer is very sweet. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A good beer, but not as complex as Southern Tier Cuvee One.

got a growler from a consumer's beer store. cheaper to get a growler than it is for the bottle. this glass that im drinking for the review is the last out of my growler that i opened a little earlier in the day, so the beer is a little flat.pours a very deep mahoghony color. nice head that had some decent retention. off white to almost tan colored head. a little bit of sticky lacing. the smell is full of a bourbony oaked aroma. a little bit of alcohol. some vanilla as well as some nice malt aromas. perhaps even a little smokiness.the taste is again a lot of bourbony oak, vanilla, heavy malts with a little bit of a hop bitterness in the finish. 11% is hardly noticeable, great job masking that.medium to almost heavy mouthfeel. this paticular glass had no carbonation, but earlier when i drank it, it was medium to light carbonation.very good drinkability for such a big beer, hardly much alcohol detectable, didnt even seem to get as drunk as i should have gotten off of a growler of this, but absolutely great beer none the less, definately worth a try.

Pours a chestnut brown color with a half-finger off-white head. The head recedes quickly into a wispy layer on top leaving light lacing - though I wasn't expecting much more given the ABV.

Smells of toffee, buttery caramel and hints of dark fruits that intensify as the beer warms.

Tastes very good. Toffee and caramel malt flavors up front are joined by mild milk chocolate flavors midway through the sip. It's fairly sweet while it's cold but as it warms it gets even sweeter. Hints of dark fruits come out more as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a very nice thickness with soft carbonation.

Drinkability is good. I split the bottle but I probably could've had the entire bottle myself.

Overall this was a tasty beer but one that was a bit too far on the sweet side after a while. Still, it's definitely worth a shot.

A- This beer pours a clear dense body that glows a deep reddish brown hue with a bubbly yellowish tan head that fades to a ring of large bubbles. The carbonation is lots of tiny bubbles racing to the surface.

S- The aroma of caramel malt with a slight roasted note had buttery vanilla qualities and an oaky finish.

T- The sweet oaky flavor has some butter notes with caramel sweetness increasing as the beer warms. There is a roasted bitterness mixed with a stronger hop bitterness in the finish that has some nice piney qualities to it.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a tickling tight fizz on the tongue and no alcohol heat until it warms a good bit and even then it is pretty small.

D- This beer has a rich buttery oaky sweet malt flavor which really satisfied my sweet tooth and a nice cleaning fizz at the finish to balance some of the sweetness.

A- Deep plum purple red with a very small filmy head.S- Plums, cherries, sugar, oak, vanilla, and chocolate.T- Sweet vanilla touched oak and chocolate with a good dried fruit body; plums and cherries.M- Sweet and smooth with a dry chocolately feel and a warm alc. finish.

Overall- A good nightcapper. Smooth fruity and warming. A pricey pint at $7 probably won't buy another, but worth a try.

Color is like redwood lumber, with an off-white head that's thin but holds on pretty well. Head shrinks to a thin skim in a few minutes.

Aroma is vinous at first, then a strong honey character takes hold. Huge blueberry/blackberry/Concord grape vibes muscle in too. Candy-like malt, big caramel notes...you can tell just from smelling it's gonna be sweet.

Good balance in the flavor between vanilla, fresh-cut wood, and the sweetness of burnt sugar and succulent berry. Honey comes to mind again. Butterscotch candies. The 11% alcohol is lightly medicinal, but stays in the background, amazingly enough. Wood, alcohol and sweet berries show up strongest in the finish.

Firm, round, slick, creamy...carbonation is gentle and delicate. A delightful thing to hold in the mouth...found this to be my favorite feature.

Didn't quite rock my world like Cuvee 1, as its sweetness veers toward the saccharine. I like sweet beers, so I liked this--and it's not disgustingly sweet--but Cuvee 1 had a nuttier character, better balance and more depth. Still a wonderful experience, and another unique beer from the mighty Southern Tier.

On-tap at Cole's. Much more sweet and barleywinish than the first cuvee, oaking taste is secondary, however significant. Pours barleywine brown. Carmel to bulkup mouthfeel. Made more popular? Better than this year's Flying Bison C-130, but it's as if the same brewing team worked on both. It was drinkable.

This was really a nice beer. It could hold it's own as a barleywine. It has more flavor than the Cuvee One which offers a more pleasureable drinking experience. It also has a bit more oak notes in the finish. I really enjoyed this beer. This reminds me a bit of an early version of their barrel aged Backburner. If this were still brewed, I'd pick up another bottle.

Cuvee Two pours a reddish copper color. It's fairly clear, and looks a little scarlet when held to light. A vanilla colored head covers the top. It rises to about two fingers in depth and recedes quickly. Lacing was a little sticky and moderate. Not bad.

The nose is very average. It's weak and needs more strength. It features a fairly prominent oak aroma throughout. That part isn't bad at all. However, there is an underlying sweet caramel malt scent that doesn't mesh well. Too much caramel. There are some light fruit scents. I am picking up grape, and perhaps a little pear. Alcohol doesn't come through very strong at all. Meh. It's alright.

The flavor is easily a notch above the nose. The caramel malt base doesn't seem quite as sweet as the nose suggested. Don't get me wrong, it's sweet, but not too sweet. Oak is certainly noticeable. It seems to work better than anticipated. Light fruit flavors of grape, pear, and perhaps a little raisin are secondary. It has a slight white wine vibe going. Alcohol is masked extremely well. It finishes sweet and oaky. All in all, it's not bad, but it's not great either.

Cuvee Two has a medium body that is fairly smooth. Carbonation is light and feels nice. Drinkability is rather average. The flavor, while okay, isn't great. It's also a substantial beer at 11%. I might finish off this bomber, but it's going to take quite a while. Definitely a sipper.

I had high hopes for these Cuvee releases from Southern Tier, but they're disappointing. I can't say that I like one much more than the other. I'm not sure if Three will ever see a release, but I'm not exactly excited about it anymore. The flavor in this release comes together a little better than One, but isn't materially better. If you're interested in the Series, it's worth trying out. But, I wouldn't go to great lengths to obtain a bottle.

On-tap at the Farmhouse, served in a snifter. Appears a slightly hazy honey brown color with a short light tan head. The oak really dominates the beer, and that's sort of a cool change from most barrel-aged beers. The American oak barrel defines the beer. Unfortunately, the actual beer has trouble standing up to the great vanilla and grainy woods character. The malt comes off as a simple, and fairly sweet, caramel candy taste. I still this is worth trying, however, for the oak alone. It's not often you get such raw barrel flavors.

T: Follows the noses, along with some cinnamon & pears & leafy hops up front, along with a kiss of whiskey boozeyness. Dryness, figs, port boozeyness plus more subtle cherry as this warms. Finishes with some vanilla, cherry & figgyness, on the cusp of a 4.5

MF: Slick with some fairly lively carbonation, medium bodied, some stickyness as this warms

Drinks easy for the style & ABV, didn't quite pull together for greatness, but a worthy offering all in all. Would love to run into a bottle of this in a year or two & see how it ages...

Pours an awfully pretty ruby brown color with a rather small head that settles quickly into a sparse cap. The aroma is of cherry and oak, a little musty; strawberry smoothie? Big oak and whiskey flavors hit that palate right away, followed by some vanilla, cherry, honey, caramel malt and some bittering hop. The feel is thick and chewy; prickly carbonation prevents the brew from becoming slick or syrupy, though it is a bit sticky. Nice balance between sweet and bitter. Good oaky brew with splashes of vanilla, cherry, and bourbon.